Shows

Work and Life with Stew Friedman

About This Show

Show Info:

Welcome to the Work and Life Podcast with Stew Friedman -- bestselling author, celebrated professor at The Wharton School, and founder of Wharton's Work/Life Integration Project. Stew is widely recognized as the world's foremost authority on cultivating leadership from the point of view of the whole person. On this podcast, Stew talks with a variety of experts -- leading researchers, progressive executives, policy advocates, inspiring educators, and more -- about how to cultivate harmony between work and the rest of your life; that is, your family, your community, and your private self (mind, body, and spirit). Conversations in all Work and Life Podcast episodes are taken from broadcasts of Stew's Work and Life Radio Show, which airs weekly on SiriusXM 132, Business Radio Powered by Wharton. Tune in on Tuesdays at 7:00 PM Eastern.Read more »

Welcome to the Work and Life Podcast with Stew Friedman -- bestselling author, celebrated professor at The Wharton School, and founder of Wharton's Work/Life Integration Project. Stew is widely recognized as the world's foremost authority on cultivating leadership from the point of view of the whole person. On this podcast, Stew talks with a variety of experts -- leading researchers, progressive executives, policy advocates, inspiring educators, and more -- about how to cultivate harmony between work and the rest of your life; that is, your family, your community, and your private self (mind, body, and spirit). Conversations in all Work and Life Podcast episodes are taken from broadcasts of Stew's Work and Life Radio Show, which airs weekly on SiriusXM 132, Business Radio Powered by Wharton. Tune in on Tuesdays at 7:00 PM Eastern.Read Less

Listen Whenever

Related Shows

Most Recent Episode

Ep 111. Cal Newport: Digital Minimalism

2 days ago
·
55 minutes

Cal Newport is an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. He is the author of six other books, including Deep Work (see our earlier conversation), which argued that our ability to concentrate without distractions is becoming rare. He sold his first book to Random House in the summer after his junior year of college. You won't find him on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, but you can often find him at home with his family in Washington, DC, or writing essays for his popular website calnewport.com.

Stew and Cal discuss Cal’s research on digital decluttering and how it increases one’s productivity, maximizes the return on one’s investment in technology use, improves one’s overall happiness, and enhances genuine social connections. Cal talks about the ways in which social media companies (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), in order to increase their value for initial public offerings, strategically engineered their products to be sticky, generate compulsive use, and be addictive. He talks about how our overuse of technology does not make us more productive because we’re not using it wisely. He recommends being intentional with our use of technology, adopting a philosophy of digital minimalism. Doing so starts with identifying one’s core values, taking a 30-day decluttering hiatus, re-evaluating what’s really important, realizing the value of solitude, and consciously re-introducing technological tools if and only if they promise real benefit. The result is a greater sense of freedom and enhanced performance.

Cal Newport is an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. He is the author of six other books, including Deep Work (see our earlier conversation), which argued that our ability to concentrate without distractions is becoming rare. He sold his first book to Random House in the summer after his junior year of college. You won't find him on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, but you can often find him at home with his family in Washington, DC, or writing essays for his popular website calnewport.com.

Stew and Cal discuss Cal’s research on digital decluttering and how it increases one’s productivity, maximizes the return on one’s investment in technology use, improves one’s overall happiness, and enhances genuine social connections. Cal talks about the ways in which social media companies (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), in order to increase their value for initial public offerings, strategically engineered their products to be sticky, generate compulsive use, and be addictive. He talks about how our overuse of technology does not make us more productive because we’re not using it wisely. He recommends being intentional with our use of technology, adopting a philosophy of digital minimalism. Doing so starts with identifying one’s core values, taking a 30-day decluttering hiatus, re-evaluating what’s really important, realizing the value of solitude, and consciously re-introducing technological tools if and only if they promise real benefit. The result is a greater sense of freedom and enhanced performance.